Posted by PhDork in Culcha Vulcha, Language Matters, Books, Events, Feminism on Mar 10, 2010, 11:00am | 3 Comments
Posted by PhDork in Language Matters, You Have Got To Be Fucking Kidding Me, Bodies That Matter, Fat Is A Feminist Issue, Sports, Weight Police on Feb 18, 2010, 11:00am | 20 Comments
Female Olympians are Fat! (TW)...
That logo-person is lookin' a little blocky, doncha think? Okay, of course they’re not. Although I’m sure some of these fit, muscular athletes would qualify as “obese” according to BMI calculations. (Which are crap, in case you hadn’t picked up on that.) But shaming...
Posted by PhDork in Housekeeping, Language Matters, Thoughts, Blogging is Hard, What about the menz? on Feb 9, 2010, 11:00am | 32 Comments
“And by ‘ladies,’ of c...
Just don't add anything to the punch. We don't all drink here. Via Courtney_Walden @ Flickr Perhaps because of the new FB page, or perhaps because of the recent series of eclipses, who knows, we’ve had a minor influx of new posters; quite a few of them men. While we welcome male allies,...
Posted by BeckySharper in Language Matters, Thoughts, Nerdery and Dorkitude on Jan 18, 2010, 4:30pm | 21 Comments
A Really Good Idea (Really!)...
Like any word geek, I always enjoy a good round-up of words and catch phrases that have overstayed their welcome, and was delighted when a friend sent me a link to the website of Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan: Word “czars” at Lake Superior State University “unfriended”...
Posted by PhDork in Friday Fun Thread, Language Matters, Nerdery and Dorkitude on Jan 8, 2010, 9:30am | 54 Comments
Friday Fun Thread: Mondegreens!...
This has nothing to do with anything other than one of my favorite words: mondegreen. You all know about mondegreens, even if you’ve never heard the word before. A mondegreen is a mishearing of a phrase or song lyric. You know: “What a Friend We Have in Cheeses” or “‘Scuse...
Posted by PhDork in Language Matters, Thoughts, Language Matters, Motherhood, Things That Are Awesome, Women's Work on Nov 5, 2009, 9:00am | 14 Comments
Bloggin’ is Awesome!...
Social networking sites like Facebook have provided, along with the chance to get back in touch with people you haven’t seen in 10 or 20 years, an entirely new realm of the baffling, weird, and offensive that in early days would have flown under our radars. I’m filing this one under...
Posted by PhDork in Language Matters, LGBTQ, Nerdery and Dorkitude, Religion on Oct 29, 2009, 11:00am | 21 Comments
The Oxford Comma: A Good Idea...
Although I’m not immune to typos and certainly make my fair share of mistakes, I can be a pedant when it comes to grammar and usage, especially to my students. But really, it matters, as I noted again this morning, while skimming an AP story on a new stream of evangelical Christians taking their...
Posted by SarahMC in Language Matters, Thoughts, Feminism, Language Matters, Rants on Sep 1, 2009, 9:00am | 95 Comments
“Humanist” is not a substitu...
I am distrustful of anyone who says they prefer the label “humanist” to “feminist.” You’ve heard the argument before. It’s an attempt to downplay oppression against women and avoid acknowledging male privilege. “Humanist” is taken. It has a definition. ...
More Words About Words...
After my post on words we hate–which yielded an awesome comment thread about not just nit-picky word-hating, but on language itself–I lucked into a fascinating article in Newsweek about how which language we speak may actually shape our perceptions and abilities. Lera Boroditsky, a psychologist...
A Word about Words…...
We here at Harpyness are utterly convinced that language matters. We’ve gone on record with our feelings on the multitude of names for ladyparts, for example. And we’re always up in someone’s grill about the way language contributes to sexism and stereotypes. But we’re also...
Posted by PhDork in Language Matters, Thoughts, Double Standards, Oh Please, Parenthood, Science, Sexism on Jun 24, 2009, 3:00pm | 6 Comments
And Then They Came for CuteOverload....
Is that a good father, or a bad mother? Via rofanator @ Flickr. I occasionally check out our own SarahMC’s tumblr, since she has a tendency to post pictures of beagles and other cute things along with her usual trenchant comments. Last weekend was one of those times, and there I found a link to a National...
Posted by PhDork in Harpy Shout-out, Language Matters, Education, Girls, Woo-hoo! on May 29, 2009, 9:00am | 11 Comments